Fox (Univ. of Notre Dame) assembled 13 distinguished scholars to describe the state of the art in Swift studies. Although the commentary on Swift is copious, few recent works are aimed at the beginner, so this volume should be welcome to many. The essays range widely in approach: some are contextual, focusing on politics, economics, or women; more formalist contributions discuss language and genre. The poems, A Tale of a Tub, and Gulliver's Travels get chapters (mostly) to themselves. Swift's politics and his Irish context are recurring concerns. The contributions are of uneven quality, and many simply recap the familiar for the benefit of newcomers instead of making new arguments, but a few exceptions will be useful even to specialists. Highlights include Michael Suarez on satire and parody, Marcus Walsh on religion, Pat Rogers on the poetry, and J. Paul Hunter on Gulliver's Travels. A detailed, three-page chronology will prove handy to beginners; an up-to-date, ten-page bibliography of both primary and secondary sources will be valuable to nearly all readers. The collection is marred by occasional repetition and sloppy proofreading. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. J. T. Lynch Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark